Tag team — Stereotypes don't define graffiti artists

LAS CRUCES — It takes much skill, dedication and strength to do graffiti. Yes, graffiti — aerosol art, street-style murals, the art that comes from a can and represents an underground world not often understood but often criminalized and looked down upon.

"It's not just a bad thing," said Chuck Romero, graffiti artist, "just because we use a spray can."

Romero, 37, has been a graffiti artist in Las Cruces since the early 1990s, when he saw what similar artists were doing in California. He got hooked on that style of art, though he was never interested in the arts before.

"That's what got me influenced to start doing art," he said. "The colors and the lettering, it really amazed me. 'I want to do this some day,' I thought."

Graffiti is a simple, or elaborate and colorful, piece of art or lettering in a public place. Though some styles have an association with gangs, the art form dates back to ancient civilizations, according to graffiti.org.

Romero works a lot with letters or interesting fonts that he can airbrush onto T-shirts, caps and anywhere else the ink will stay. He sells his art sometimes at the farmer's market, the West End Art Depot and at "B-boy" events, or break dancing/hip-hop events.

"Lettering is the base of graffiti," Romero said. "How you can take simple letters and make it crazy."

Touchy subject

He sometimes works with Saba, a fellow graffiti artist and newcomer to Las Cruces, who goes by one name.

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They try to spread the good word about graffiti — and hip-hop culture — seeking to educate people and break stereotypes about the art form, which can be controversial.

"It's a touchy subject," Saba said. "Some businesses get hit all the time by the gang graffiti. They (gangs) become the face of graffiti and hip-hop I naturally want to paint over that, like, how can I top that?"

In his three years here, he has approached business owners a few times and asked if they would like for him to do a larger graffiti mural.

Most times, "taggers," those involved in gangs who use spray paint, will not tag over a graffiti mural out of respect for the art. Most times. Sometimes they will. At least there is a respectable art piece where so many tags have been painted over, Saba said.

Other business owners approach graffiti artists simply to give their building a colorful accent. DG's Deli, for example — the wall behind the eatery always has a mural, which the students at NMSU think is edgy and attractive, Saba said.

Most graffiti artists get permission to do their art, which is not always permanent. One wall can be buffed and painted again many times with different projects, such as the small buildings that are part of the Court Youth Center.

But they all do it with passion. It takes dedication to do what they do; against the mainstream and against other "high-end" artists who look down on them. Saba does it because that's how he found himself.

He learned from his older brother, who was a gang member. He later cleaned up his life when he found hip-hop and saw that graffiti can be a colorful and artful expression that doesn't have to be associated with crime and gangs.

"It's expression: letting the world know who you are, what the conditions are," Saba said. "I have so much respect for graffiti and hip-hop because it helped me find who I am, as an indigenous Native American."

'I'm not gangster'

Graffiti artists do it because they love it. It can tell a story and raise awareness of social issues, despite what the majority of people think about it.

"I've had a run in with the cops when I had permission on the walls before," said Hector Sarellano, 18. "There's a whole lot of people out there who think it's (graffiti) for gangsters."

People think he's up to no good and doing drugs, he said. That's just not the case.

He said he likes this tight-knit group of graffiti artists because they're like a family to him.

This type of art is therapeutic. It's a creative outlet for him that's better than other things young men like him could be doing, such as being bored, partying and doing drugs with the wrong crowd, he said.

"It gives me something to do," said Daniel Hernandez, 16.

Hernandez attends Alma d'arte, where graffiti as art is fully accepted (It's also starting to be accepted in college art portfolios, he added).

"This is like a Pablo Picasso," Hernandez said, pointing at a colorful wall at the Court Youth Center full of graffiti art. "Graffiti is good, it's good for the soul. It gets your mind off of things."

Andi Murphy can be reached at 575-541-5453.

The Illegal? Art Show

Graffiti art show and a talk with Joseph Sullivan, a lawyer specializing in graffiti/art laws and issues

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